CASE STUDY

Want to increase participation?
Connect donors to their impact.

How Fordham University increased acquisition, unrestricted giving, and retention by showing donors their impact.

The challenge: Fordham’s Annual Giving team was tasked to increase undergraduate participation, unrestricted dollars, and overall dollars.

The team had a hunch that crowdfunding could help boost participation, but they were worried that it might cannibalize unrestricted giving and not set up new and reacquired donors for retention success

The solution: Increase unrestricted giving by running a large-scale giving day. This model helps donors and volunteers feel a sense of impact via the emotional experience of seeing real-time progress while working towards a shared goal.

Boost participation and engagement year round by launching a crowdfunding program. These initiatives reach new audiences by allowing donors to give to a restricted fund to which they feel connected.

I like to think of crowdfunding as a way to foster community around a shared passion. We’re connecting donors to the things they care about on campus. And we’re connecting the beneficiaries to their funders.
Elaine Ezrapour
Director of the Fordham Fund
0 +
crowdfunding and giving day gifts in first year
0 %
of donors were newly acquired
0 %
higher retention than via other channels
2 x
more online gifts than in a typical year
At first I was surprised to see that we were retaining crowdfunding donors at much higher rates than other donors. But it makes sense if you think about how their first giving experience was so personal and positive.
Seth Newman
Associate Director of the Fordham Fund (and now a GiveCampus Partner Success Manager!)

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